A few meaningful quotes on proclaiming the gospel, from the writings of Christmas Evans, an early 19th century Welsh preacher:
“Reading, prayer, and temptation are necessary to strengthen, and to purify the talents of a minister…. Remember this, that you cannot commit some loved sin in private, and perform the work of the ministry in public, with facility and acceptance.”
“The gospel, as a glass, should be kept clean and clear in the pulpit, that the hearers may see the glory of Christ and be changed to the same image…. Preach the gospel of the grace of God intelligently, affectionately, and without shame…. Let the preacher influence himself; let him reach his own heart, if he would reach the hearts of others; if he would have others feel, he must feel himself.”
And finally, the best one:
“Life is the only cure for death, not the prescriptions of duty, not the threats of punishment and damnation, not the arts and refinements of education, but new, spiritual, Divine Life.”
Category: The Gospel
Faithful & Righteous to Forgive – 1 John 1, pt 3
The conclusion of a three-part devotional from 1 John 1:
Verse 5 “Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him.”
The first part we need to know, is that God is perfect and holy. He has no sin (darkness) in Him. By contrast, we live in darkness and sin. This is what separates us from God and prevents us from having fellowship with Him.
Light and darkness cannot coexist. If it is light, it is not dark. If it is dark, it is not light. So we, in our darkness, cannot have fellowship with God, who is light.
This also prevents us from being able to go to heaven when we die.
That is our problem, and we have a choice to make. One option we have is to try to solve the problem of our sin by ourselves, but that doesn’t work, because:
Verse 6 “If we say, ‘We have fellowship with Him,’ and walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth.”
Many people say, “I am a Christian. I was born a Christian. I am very religious. I go to church. I do good things more often than I do bad things. I’m just not bad enough to deserve hell. Hell is for pagans, and I am a Christian.” But they have never come to Jesus personally to trust in Him alone for salvation. They have never repented in their hearts and trusted the fact that He died in their place on the cross for their sins to get them to heaven. They have instead trusted in their own good works. So their sins have never been forgiven. The darkness has never been taken away. They still live in darkness and carry a lifetime of unforgiven sin around on their backs. They may tell others, and tell themselves, that because they are religious, they have fellowship with God. But God’s word says that if we do that, we are lying—to ourselves, to God, and to others. We are not practicing truth. The truth is, we don’t have fellowship with Him when we remain in darkness.
So that’s one option of what we can do, and we’ve seen that it can’t work. So what will work to solve our problem, and give us eternal life and a relationship with God?
Verse 7 “But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
We come into the light. Jesus is the light of the world. He came and lived a perfect life, never sinning, not even once. He is so holy and perfect and righteous, that when we come by faith into His presence, we are exposed for how sinful we are. We believe that He lived a perfect life in our place, and that He died on the cross in our place and rose again. Then we find forgiveness of all our sin, and He places His light within us then. No longer do we walk in darkness, not knowing how to live properly. Now we have a relationship with Him, and the blood He shed for us on the cross takes away our sin and gives us eternal life.
Once we have by faith received eternal life in heaven, we need to live our lives walking in the light. We can continue to have a close relationship with Him, by letting Him continually cleanse us of our sin. We will sin less than we did before He saved us, but we would be lying to say we never have sin. But if we are truthful and honest with God about our sin, He has a solution that keeps our relationship with Him, even when we fail Him:
Verses 8-9 “If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
From this, we learn two things about Christ’s forgiveness of our sins. One, He is “faithful” to forgive us. That means you can trust Him to do it. He will keep His promise. If you have trusted Him as your Savior, you don’t have to worry that on Judgment Day you will come before Him and hear, “You know, I forgave you for a lot. And you kept sinning, and sometimes I felt like forgiving you, but there are these other sins that just offended Me so much that I decided not to forgive them. You’re going to have to go to hell after all.” No, Jesus will not do that to you. He is faithful to forgive us our sins. If you have come to Him and trusted Him alone as your Savior, you can rely on Him and know that you have eternal life, and that He will continue to cleanse you of all unrighteousness.
The second thing we learn is that He is “just” or “righteous” to forgive us our sins. That means simply that He is doing the right thing to forgive us when we confess, and that He is the one that has a right to do so. If you come to confess your sins to me, I have no right to forgive you and cleanse you. I am just a man. I have sinned myself. It would be not right, but blasphemous, for me to claim I can forgive your sin. If you go to a priest to confess your sins, he does not have the standing before God that allows him to cleanse you of your sins.
You must come to Jesus Himself, and confess your sinfulness to Him, and trust Him because He died in your place, to give you forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and a continual close relationship with God.
God: Get to know Me — 1 John 1, part 2
The next excerpt from the study of 1 John 1:
Verse 2 “that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us”
Christ is eternal, and He was with the Father from the very beginning. He became a man so that He could reach out to us on behalf of God the Father, revealing to us who God is, and so that He could be our advocate before God the Father, providing us salvation and eternal life.
Verses 3-4 “what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may have fellowship along with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”
This message John and the others had seen and heard was being declared to us. This is because God the Father wants to have fellowship with each of us. He wants to have a relationship with us through His Son Jesus Christ.
When we don’t have that relationship, God is just some distant, unknown being. Perhaps we believe He is there. Maybe we just hope He is there. Maybe we want to know Him, but we don’t. We pray and wonder if our prayers can be heard. We don’t know if God loves us and hears us. We want guidance from Him on what to do, but we don’t hear His voice. So we feel a spiritual aloneness.
But this is not what God wants. Jesus came, and this message is being proclaimed to us, so that we might have a relationship with God—knowing Him, living with Him, and sharing all of life with Him. He wants to give us eternal life in heaven. He wants to hear our prayers. And He also knows the joys of this life are made complete only in fellowship with Him and in telling others about Him.
Tune in tomorrow, as in the next paragraph of 1 John 1 we find out what the message is—what we need to believe and trust in so that we can have this relationship with God and receive eternal life.
This is an emergency!
If you’re moved to act, particularly for the people of Asia, you can do something today to support the work of Gospel for Asia. Visit them at www.gfa.org
“Repent or you will likewise perish”
Friday afternoon in Iasi, Romania, a train smashed into a microbus that was being unwisely driven across the track in front of it, killing 13 people. The tragic event very much related to the passage we were already going to study at church this morning, in a gospel message.
Praise be to God there were some new professions of faith in Christ at the church this morning, after this message from Luke 13. Jesus gets VERY direct in that passage in His warnings to us to come to repentance and faith for salvation before it is too late. The message is in English and Romanian. I hope that it ministers to you and to anyone you share it with.
What you are, & what you’re not
You are not homo sapiens. You are not a primate. You are not a species in an animal kingdom. You are not related to any animals, nor are you descended from any animals. You did not evolve into what you are.
You are a special creation, made in the image and likeness of the all-knowing God by whom all things, including you, were made. You, therefore, have an eternal soul and will exist somewhere forever. You are accountable to the God who made you. You were designed to be in a good and lovely relationship with Him that would be established in this life on earth and last forever.
But you are a sinner, which simply means that you were born living in rebellion against Him, with a nature bent toward seeking what you want instead of what pleases your Maker. To have a relationship with Him does not require religiousness; it requires faith and trust in Him, and in what He has done for you to bring you to Himself. He became a man like you, the man Christ Jesus. He bore your sins as He died on the cross, absorbing all of the punishment your sins have earned. Then He came alive again and still lives today. By belief and trust in Him, you can be saved, your sins can be forgiven, and you can receive His everlasting love forever.
That’s who you are, and who you were made to be.
Our Unsaved Relatives
Today’s message at the church looked at how to handle the issue of when our family members do not share our faith in Christ. The message is available for your online listening here.
Creation vs evolution
Earlier this summer, we did a four-part series at the church on Genesis 1-2, looking at Creation and how the Bible stands strong, being backed up even by the scientific evidence, which is conspicuously lacking in the evolutionary atheist camp. It was probably the most well-received Bible study series I’ve taught in the past year. You can listen to the series here, also followed by a link to a gospel study from Genesis 3-4.
Genesis 1a– Creation and the big bang
Genesis 1b-Creation of life
Genesis 2a-Creation of humanity, a closer look
Genesis 2b–Creation of marriage and family
Genesis 3-4 “The first family and sin”
The entire series is in English and Romanian.
The Good Shepherd that does WHAT?!?
So last week, as we were in the village of Timpa and Lili was sharing the gospel with a 22-year-old woman in front of her house, my mind started to wander because of a flock of sheep that was behind us. I live in a city of near half a million people, so I don’t see sheep every day. And for half an hour or so, I was just noticing things about sheep: 1) All they really ever do is stand around eating; 2) They aren’t very attractive; 3) They don’t keep clean and they smell almost as bad as pigs; 4) They’re pretty easily scared and not that bright. A motorcycle goes by and hearing the sound they run in a panic in every direction, including toward it.
Then, suddenly, the Holy Spirit brought to my mind the verse from John 10. The one where Jesus identified Himself as “the Good Shepherd, Who lays down His life for the sheep.” I had never realized what a radically shocking statement that was before. When you just look at the verse with the Sunday school flannelgraphs of cute little lambs and a smiling, bearded shepherd, you think, “So Jesus gave His life for us. Good.”
But when you’re standing there looking at sheep, and that verse comes to mind, it jars you. You think to yourself, “the good shepherd who did WHAT? If I were ever to suffer the misfortune of having to live my life taking care of this flock of dumb animals, and a wolf or lion wanted to make lunch of them, I wouldn’t even for a moment consider sacrificing myself to save these worthless bags of wool.”
The thing is, that’s how the people Jesus was speaking to must have responded. And really, if anything, He was understating His love for us. The difference between me and a sheep is tiny compared to the difference between my Savior and me. And yet, He really did it. He gave His life for the sheep.
Indescribable. Unbelieveable. Inconceivable, this gospel message is. And yet totally true. I stand amazed. And hope you do, too.
Deva Campaign Report
When we joined a team led by the Nicoaras, our former GMF colleagues, in Deva, Romania for an evangelism campaign last week, there were a couple of firsts that were real blessings to see.
First, we saw for the first time several hundred people being presented the gospel one-on-one, in addition to the gospel being preached to groups in evening meetings at several locations. 130+ people made professions of faith unto salvation during the week.
The second “first” was seeing several Christians, including two young disciples from our church in Cluj, sharing the gospel and leading people to faith in Christ for the first time in their lives.
The team included a medical component, with an MD, an eye doctor, a dental hygienist, a pharmacist, and some nurses of various specialties. The medical team traveled to different locations, helping people with their physical needs and sharing the gospel along the way.
There was also a children’s ministry team doing AWANA-style evangelism for children in each village they went to.
Here are some highlights of the campaign for Lili and me:
Sunday I was blessed with the opportunity to preach a campaign kickoff message at the church, encouraging the body of Christ to share the gospel and seek people to worship the Lord.
Monday, in Timpa, the first man we met witnessing was a 68 year old who was friendly, and interested in talking a lot and listening a little. He heard the gospel, though, over some time, and took the tract from us with the Bible verses afterwards. A couple hours later we were walking back past his house and he saw us and called out to us in the street, “Wait a minute!” He came and showed us how he had taken the tract and read the verses, answering the questions the best he could. He said, “the more I think about this, something inside me is stirring.” He told us the best he knew how, he had believed the gospel and that he wanted to come to the meeting that night, which he did.
Tuesday, back in the city of Deva, we shared the gospel with several people during the day, including a 14-year-old girl who was very joyful to learn that Jesus didn’t just die on the cross, but died on the cross to pay the penalty for her sins, so that she could have a way to heaven and a relationship with God.
Wednesday we were in the village of Mihaiesti, where the orthodox priest had been violently opposed to the sharing of the gospel, even carrying a club and running people off with it, threatening to crack their skulls if they didn’t stop witnessing and leave. The Lord was using the situation though, because the people wanted to go to the medical clinic and they were angered that the priest was trying to prevent them from receiving help from Christians that they needed, while they knew that an orthodox priest wouldn’t even pray for them without requiring they first pay the priest a high fee for his trouble. We met and Lili witnessed to a 55-year-old woman there, who understood the gospel, but started weeping, just saying, “There is something in me that is keeping me from being able to trust Christ and be saved.” She seemed desperate. We prayed for her. Another team member talked with her then, and she did trust Christ as her Savior. Her sorrowful face instantly turned joyous.
Thursday in Lapusnic, we got to share the gospel with several elderly people coming to the medical clinic—people who had been religious all their lives, but never heard the gospel. The highlight there, though, was seeing Romanian teens who had come just to be translators for Americans, taking the initiative themselves to share the gospel without help and lead people to the Lord.
Friday we were in Baita, a village that is another hardline orthodox stronghold. After being turned away by several people, even children, Lili and I prayed for a divine appointment with anyone whose heart had been prepared by the Lord to hear His voice. Within seconds, we crossed paths on the street with Ana Maria, a 19-year-old who was on her way to the town center to shop for the day’s food. We asked her if she had some time to talk with us about eternal life and how to have her sins forgiven. She said yes, and listened intently on the side of the road to a detailed explanation of the gospel. Then when she realized that Jesus had died for her sins personally, she trusted Christ as her Savior.
In addition to the witnessing blessings and to the blessings of seeing people we have discipled in Cluj become disciplemakers on this campaign, there was the blessing of close fellowship and Spirit-filled worship times with the American team members in the evenings. It was Lili’s first experience leading worship songs in English, and it was a blessed time for us and for the team we were working with. We believe some lasting friendships have begun with the colaborers that we served with this week. Praise the Lord!
Audio sermons in English
Since this is a relatively new blog, I might have some new friends reading who might be interested in hearing some recordings of messages. So over the next couple weeks, I plan on putting some links up to messages you can hear online. First, today’s installment is some of my favorites from preaching in English in American churches. Hope you enjoy them if you have time to listen.
“Always too soon to give up on God” from Luke 24
“It’s the Word” a special double-length message on the condition of the “seeker” based church vs biblical church-planting
“The Day God Punished His Son” – A narrative telling of the crucifixion and the gospel, from the perspective of the day of the cross as “the day that the Lord has made”
“A Tale of Three Crosses” – Another gospel message looking at the two thieves who died alongside Jesus, and how everyone has the same choice to make about eternity. What kind of thief are you?
“Starting Right” an expository study of Daniel 1
“Impossible is easy for God” an expository study of Daniel 2
More links will be posted in a few days, Lord-willing, including a study of the first 5 chapters of the book of Acts.
Jonah pt 2 — Back in God’s Will
Tonight’s home fellowship study, on Jonah 3-4, is available for online listening here. It looks at Jonah’s unwilling obedience, what God did through him, and what he learned, and we need to learn about serving the Lord with the right priorities.
Walk of Faith - Dave Bunnell 